By Adam Hicks, CooperBuild AI · November 10, 2026

An OAC meeting is the regular owner-architect-contractor meeting where the three parties on a construction project review progress, the schedule, open RFIs and submittals, changes and anything blocking the work. It's usually weekly or every other week, run by the GC's project manager, and the minutes become part of the project record. A good OAC meeting ends with every open issue assigned to one person with a date.

This guide covers who should be in the room, a simple OAC meeting agenda, how to write minutes people actually read, and how to keep action items from falling off between meetings. If you're newer to the documents that drive the agenda, start with our guides to RFIs and submittals.

#What does OAC stand for in construction?

OAC stands for owner, architect, contractor. Those are the three parties to the design and construction contracts on a typical design-bid-build job, so the OAC meeting is where decisions that need all three get made.

Depending on the project you'll also hear "OAC/progress meeting," "owner meeting" or "weekly project meeting." On design-build or CM jobs the names change, but the purpose is the same: one standing meeting where the people who can make decisions look at the same information.

#Who attends an OAC meeting?

Keep the core group small and senior enough to decide things:

• Owner: the owner's rep or owner's project manager, plus a facilities or end-user contact when their input is needed.
• Architect: the project architect, with engineers or consultants invited for specific items (MEP, structural, civil).
• Contractor: the GC's project manager, who usually runs the meeting, and the superintendent, who covers the field and the look-ahead.

Bring key subcontractors in for the items they own, not the whole hour. A mechanical foreman sitting through a flooring color debate is an expensive way to spend a morning. Many GCs run a separate weekly subcontractor coordination meeting and keep the OAC focused on owner and design decisions.

#How often should you hold an OAC meeting?

Weekly is the most common rhythm on active commercial jobs. Every two weeks works for slower phases or smaller projects, and some teams switch to weekly once interior finishes and closeout start, when decisions pile up fast.

Check the contract and specs first. Many projects spell out progress meeting frequency, who chairs it and who issues minutes, usually in the Division 01 project management and coordination sections. If the spec says the architect issues minutes, don't assume you get to write the record.

#What should be on an OAC meeting agenda?

A predictable agenda keeps the meeting short. Here's a format that works for most GCs:

1. Safety. Incidents, near misses and upcoming high-risk work.
2. Old business. Every open action item from the last meeting, by number, until it's closed.
3. Schedule. Progress against the baseline and a short look-ahead from the superintendent. Call out anything on the critical path.
4. Hot RFIs. The open RFIs that will hold up work soon, with days open and the date you need an answer.
5. Hot submittals. Submittals in the architect's court, with days in review and the date the material needs to be released.
6. Changes. Pending change requests, pricing status, and owner decisions needed. Our change order process guide covers the paperwork side.
7. Owner items. Owner-furnished equipment, permits, utility work, move-in dates and anything else on their side.
8. Billing and payments. A quick check on the current pay application and anything holding up payment, if the owner is comfortable covering it in this group.
9. New business. New issues, each turned into an action item before the meeting moves on.
10. Next meeting. Date, time and any special attendees.

Send the agenda, the open action item list and the hot RFI and submittal logs the day before. People come prepared when they know their item is on the list with their name next to it.

#How do you write OAC meeting minutes?

Minutes are a record of decisions and actions, not a transcript. One or two lines per item is plenty. For each item, capture:

• Item number that stays the same until it closes (for example 12.04, meeting 12, item 4).
• What was discussed or decided, in plain language.
• Who owns the next step. One person, by name and company, not "electrical" or "TBD."
• Due date. A real date. "ASAP" isn't a date.
• Status: open, in progress or closed.

A few habits make minutes far more useful:

• Send them within a day or two. Minutes that show up a week later get skimmed and argued about.
• Ask for corrections by a set date. Add a line asking attendees to send corrections within a few business days, or the minutes stand as written. Check your contract for how this should work.
• Carry every open item forward. If an item disappears without being closed, you've lost the record of who owed what.
• Write scope and cost changes carefully. If the owner asks for added work in the meeting, the minutes should say whether you were asked to price it or directed to proceed. Minutes don't replace the notice and change order steps in your contract.

#How do you keep OAC action items from falling through the cracks?

This is where most meetings break down. The decision gets made, the minutes go out, and two weeks later nobody remembers who was supposed to call the utility. Construction managers on Reddit say the same thing: the hard part isn't the meeting, it's what happens after it.

What works:

• Keep one running action item list across meetings, not a new list each week. Old business is just the open items on that list.
• Write actions as a verb and an object. "Confirm AHU-2 delivery window" beats "AHU-2."
• One owner per action. If two people have a piece, split it into two items.
• Define done. "Revised door hardware schedule sent to architect" is checkable. "Look into hardware" isn't.
• Review overdue items first at every meeting, so the oldest open items get the most attention.
• Link items to the log they belong in. If an action is really an RFI, a submittal or a change, put it in that log too, so it follows the right process.

The other leak is everything decided outside the meeting: a text to the super, a call with the architect, a thread in the job chat. If those decisions don't make it onto the same list, the minutes only tell half the story. We wrote more about this in turning job chat into action items.

#OAC meeting vs subcontractor meeting: what's the difference?

The OAC meeting is for owner and design decisions: RFIs, submittals, changes, owner items and the big-picture schedule. The subcontractor coordination meeting is the GC's meeting with its trades about sequencing, manpower, deliveries, site logistics and the look-ahead.

Keeping them separate protects both. Owners don't need to hear crews argue over a laydown area, and subs shouldn't be negotiating scope in front of the owner. Bring the outcomes from one into the other: an RFI answer from the OAC becomes a field instruction at the sub meeting, and a delivery problem from the sub meeting may become an owner item at the next OAC.

#How CooperBuild AI fits

CooperBuild AI keeps the project's RFIs, submittals, change orders, billing and job costs in one place, with built-in accounting (general ledger, payables and receivables), a QuickBooks Online connection if that's where your books live, and online payments through Stripe. When a decision or follow-up comes up in the job chat, assistants can pick it up as an action item for your review, so it lands on the same list you walk through at the next OAC meeting instead of getting buried in a thread.

If you want your next OAC meeting to start with a clean open-items list instead of a scramble, get started with free credits, no credit card needed.

#FAQ

#What does OAC stand for in construction?

OAC stands for owner, architect, contractor. An OAC meeting is the regular project meeting where those three parties review progress, schedule, RFIs, submittals, changes and open issues, and make decisions that need all of them.

#Who runs an OAC meeting?

On most projects the general contractor's project manager runs the OAC meeting and the superintendent covers the field and schedule. Some contracts assign the chair or the minutes to the architect or owner's rep, so check the project specifications.

#How often are OAC meetings held?

Weekly is most common on active commercial projects, and every two weeks is common on smaller jobs or slower phases. The contract or the project specifications often set the required frequency.

#What should be included in OAC meeting minutes?

Minutes should list attendees and each item with a number, a short summary of the discussion or decision, one named owner, a due date and a status. Open items carry forward to the next meeting until they're closed.

#What is the difference between an OAC meeting and a subcontractor meeting?

An OAC meeting covers owner and design decisions with the owner and architect. A subcontractor coordination meeting is the GC's meeting with its trades about sequencing, manpower, deliveries and site logistics.

This article is general information for contractors, not legal advice. Confirm meeting, notice and change requirements in your contract and project specifications.